Wheelchair adventurer credits Big Isle ohana

The mainland visitor conquers Mauna Kea in under 40 hours

Sean O'Neill became the first man to climb Mauna Kea in a wheelchair Saturday night, a feat he could not have accomplished without Big Island generosity.

"There's a lot of little tiny pieces that just kind of blend together and you get an overall sense of goodness," O'Neill said yesterday. "I know for a fact, it could not have happened if I was all alone ... Everything takes more than just one person."

O'Neill finished the 43-mile trek at 11:45 p.m. Saturday, 13,796 feet above sea level. The 40-year-old, a metal sculptor from Pennsylvania, started at 8 a.m. Friday from the Hilo shoreline.

With the help of Big Island friend Raul Perena and resident Dan Beardsley, O'Neill pushed 18 hours on Friday and 14 hours on Saturday, sleeping only three hours between.

Both days were the biggest uphill pushes he's ever done.

Five of the last 8 1/2 miles of the road were unpaved -- covered in dust and rocks half the size of his fist, O'Neill said.

Paralyzed from the waist down 15 years ago after jumping from a bridge in Tennessee into the Mississippi River, O'Neill has received lots of support already, but he was overwhelmed by the Big Island's generosity.

A man named Bobo "who came out of the blue" Friday night offered O'Neill encouragement, telling him he would make it.